Clevner Alte Reben

Astonishing how much acidity this has and how fresh it is. Unreal electricity from a so called low acid grape. Andreas Laible says this is a 25+ year wine. Insane structure. Unreal length. Superstar. Nose is pineapple, peach, some elegant VA but the palate is just insane. The quality is through the roof. It’s like 10% Rococo and 90% Laible. What a wine.

Solidly overripe cantaloupe, thick florals, delicious texture.

2nd to last bottle of a long line up in a summer dinner, & showed I thought rather spectacularly between a Petit Chablis & the only red of the night. Paired with local, rich cow cheese- the more vibrant round & traminer- like richness of the varietal came alive as a result. Plus the smoky mineral endive fennel notes made even more clear. Made me rethink how to serve this wine w food, & when.

2nd time through this bottling: the nose deserves special mention as it really lands the day before touching glass to lips, it’s that fragrant & potent: lemon curd, white blossoms, endive, but special ly made by some wacky German cousin of Willie Wonka. Little did I know that Roter Traminer is a kissing cousin of Gewurtztraminer ( if I followed the lineage properly) so maybe I shouldn’t be surprised. On palate the fragrance notes are there, but neither shrill nor imbalanced, with a medium styled body & a slight viscosity I like. For some reason could imagine mushroom dishes pairing beautifully.